Accra ECG workers protest removal of MD
Hundreds of workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Accra yesterday joined the protest against the removal of their former Managing Director (MD), Rev. William Hutton-Mensah.
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The protest, which started last Friday, saw a series of demonstrations at branches of the company across the country, including Tema and Kumasi.
As early as 7 a.m., protesters from some of the branches gathered in front of their offices, wearing red armbands and ready to protest against the decision to re-assign the MD.
Some of them held placards with inscriptions such as, “No generation, No distribution”, “Bring back our MD”, “No Reverend, No Work”, “Govt, sack minister rather”, among others issues.
Some of the placards wondered why the leaders of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) were still at post while the ECG boss had been relieved of his duties.
Background
Last Friday, November 21, 2014, President John Mahama, in a statement, directed Rev. Ing Hutton-Mensah to report to the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum for re-assignment on resumption from his annual leave.
It asked that Mr Robert Dwamena, the Director of Procurement of the company, should act as managing director.
The decision came in the wake of an intense load-shedding exercise following which households and companies do not get electricity supply for several days.
The workers claimed that the removal of the MD was as a result of the current load-shedding exercise and described the removal as unfair.
Agitations
When the Daily Graphic visited some ECG branches in Accra, angry workers were chanting slogans.
At the Avenor branch, the workers wore red bands on their arms and around their necks. They had also draped a piece of red cloth on the main gate of the office.
The situation was no different at the offices at Makola, where the workers had hung a huge red cloth at the entrance of the ECG office.
The display of the red cloth and the protest attracted the attention of pedestrians and market women.
However, the situation was calm at the Head Office of the ECG, as the workers there went about their duties peacefully, with no sign of agitation.
At the Korle Bu District Office of the ECG, the workers did not only demonstrate against the removal of the MD but also showed displeasure at the attack on their office by residents of Korle Bu.
According to the acting District Manager, Mr Horack Nkansah, the office was attacked last Saturday by some angry residents of the area because of power outages in the area.
He expressed worry over the situation, adding that the power outages were national problems and, therefore, the ECG should not suffer the consequences.
He said the residents came with stones and sticks which they threw at the main gate, destroying a section of the signage, and at the security man who was on duty.
